


looking at me

by mscarlymarie



Category: Sweet Magnolias (TV)
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, annie is confident, kind of, like their real first kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mscarlymarie/pseuds/mscarlymarie
Summary: Annie decided that she was done with the mixed signals between her and Ty. She took matters into her own hands.
Relationships: Annie Sullivan/Tyler "Ty" Townsend
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	looking at me

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, probably one of the worst fanfics I've ever done. This idea was inspired by a Julie and the Phantoms fic I've been reading. I haven't proof read, and honestly, this might not flow as well as I thought it did in my head. Also, I wrote this on my phone soooo yea, I apologize, but I needed to write something as there are like no fics for this ship and for the fandom in general! Done with my rant, enjoy this mess of a fic :)

Annabelle Sullivan looked at herself in the mirror, admiring her outfit. Her outfit consisted of a pair of jean shorts, white Adidas shoes, and one of Tyler’s old jerseys that Kyle had snuck her. Now, the shirt was all Kyle’s idea as he knew it would mess with Ty’s head and Annie decided, why not? She was confident that he liked her back, but ever since the kiss last year, things had continued to be a little awkward. So, when Annie decided she was going to reveal her feelings, Kyle thought why not mess with him too. Annie knew this was perfect as it was also game day for the bulldogs. She knew how this was going to look to everyone in the school and in the town, but she didn’t care. The town could do all the tongue wagging they wanted to, she was done playing into their catty ways. 

“The Townsends are walking up, better hurry up Annie!” Dana Sue yelled from downstairs. 

Annie gave herself one last look over before swinging her backpack on and going downstairs. 

“Remember, I am working the game tonight and won’t be at Sullivan’s.” Annie said as she walked over to give her mom a kiss on the cheek. 

Dana Sue looked at her outfit, taking notice of the jersey. “I know… where did you get that shirt from?” 

“Kyle gave it to me; said I need to start showing a little more support on game days.” Annie smiled. “But I have to get going if I wanna walk with them to school! Bye mom, I love you.” 

Annie ran out the door and she heard her mom briefly say a goodbye. At the end of her house were the two boys who waited for her every day to walk to school. Ty was looking at his phone when Kyle said, “Hey Annie! Nice shoes!”

Ty pocketed his phone to get ready for the walk. He looked down at Annie’s feet to see what Kyle was talking about. They were a nice pair of white Adidas shoes. His gaze traveled upwards to give her a quick smile when he stopped at her shirt. His jersey. Or maybe not? How would she have his jersey? Damn, did it look good. The navy-blue color on the jersey complimented her skin so well. Ty continued to stare when he felt a nudge in his side. 

“Are you ready to start walking?” Kyle asked. 

Ty moved his gaze back and forth between Kyle and Annie before clearing his throat, “Uh, yeah. Let’s get going.” 

The three started walking with Kyle and Annie immersed into a conversation ahead of Ty. He was still staring at the jersey Annie was wearing. As they kept on walking, he decided that it was just a fan jersey she was wearing. He was stupid to think it was his jersey she was wearing although it was a nice thought for a minute that she was actually wearing his jersey. He just must’ve never seen her wear it before as it did look a little older and not brand new. He took his eyes off her and stared ahead just waiting to get to school, when he noticed Annie swing her backpack off to pull something out of it. It was a swift movement, only a few seconds, but enough for him to notice the large number 17 on the back. His number. 

Ty stopped walking and asked, “Where did you get that jersey, Annie?” 

The pair ahead of him stopped and turned to look at him. Annie furrowed her brows at the look at his face before giving him a small smile. “This? I honestly don’t know. I found it in my things today and thought I’d give a little more school spirit today.” 

Annie couldn’t tell him that Kyle was the one to sneak it over. She hoped she was believable enough so that he didn’t ask any more questions. She heard a cough next to her and saw as Kyle tried to hide a laugh. “Do you like it?” 

Annie watched as his mouth opened and closed for a moment while she kept her eyes locked on his. Today was going to be a fun day if this is how he continued to react.

“Uh, yeah it, uh, it looks good.” Really good, Ty thought to himself. His feelings for Annie had evolved over the past year. While things were still a little awkward, he knew he was developing feelings for this girl. It started with little looks when she wasn’t talking to him. He would look at her and started to feel a little flutter in his chest. When they did start talking again, he let his eyes linger a little longer when she would smile. God, he loved that smile. The way it took up her entire face and her eyes would get big. It wasn’t usually directed towards him and he hated himself for it. He knew he was at fault for what had transpired between them. He should’ve talked to her and deleted the message. He can’t change what happened in the past, but he can sure as hell figure out what the future holds and if it includes Annie wearing his jersey, well, he is all for it. 

“Are you coming, weirdo?” Kyle called for him. Ty looked ahead of him and noticed the two had started walking again and were quite ahead of him. He shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts, and jogged lightly to catch up with them. He didn’t say much for the rest of the walk; Kyle tried to include him in a conversation, but Ty only responded with one worded answers as he was having trouble focusing. 

As they got to the school, he bid the pair a goodbye and caught up with Gabe and a few more of his teammates. He let his mind clear of Annie for a while and had almost forgotten about it until after the first period. 

Gabe was standing next to Ty’s locker as he switched out books for his next class when Gabe said, “Have you seen Annie today?” 

Ty glances at Gabe. “Uh, yeah.”

“So, you know what she is wearing?” Gabe was looking over Ty’s shoulder as Annie had just walked past and Gabe noticed the shirt and the number. 

“I do.” Ty said as he closed his locker and balanced the books in his hands. 

The pair leaned against the lockers. “Is there something you’re not telling me then? Because that definitely looks like your freshman baseball jersey that she is wearing.” 

“I don’t know!” Ty threw up his free hand. “She comes out wearing it today and like doesn’t say anything. I didn’t see the number at first, so I just thought it was a fan jersey or something that I had just never seen her wear before as I noticed it was older but then I saw the number. She said she just found it in her things, but I honestly don’t know how she would’ve gotten it.” 

“Are you still not gonna say anything to her about liking her?” Gabe asked. 

Ty pushes himself off the lockers and starts walking with Gabe by his side as the warning bell rings for the second period. “I wasn’t planning on it. She still seems distant and the last thing I need to do is make her life even worse. I’m the one who caused the fiasco last year and she probably still hates me and is just trying to become friends for the sake of our moms.”

“I don’t know about that, man. She looks like she knows what she is doing and she’s doing it on purpose.” Gabe slapped a hand on Ty’s back before entering the classroom and taking his seat. Ty followed suit and continues to think about Gabe’s comment. Did she know what she was doing? If she was, why? Why would she go out of her way to wear the jersey? How did she get it? What does it all mean? 

Ty went the rest of the day mulling over all the questions he had. He still didn’t know what it meant. If Gabe was right and she was doing this on purpose, he had to know why. If there was a chance her feelings have changed, he had to know. But before he could think about having a conversation with her, he had a game to win tonight. A big one. It was the game against Castlewood. He needed to clear his mind and focus. 

Which was hard when everyone around him was whispering about Annie’s jersey especially when he walked by. 

Annie realized half the way through the day that maybe this wasn’t the right day to do this. She knew it was game day, but it had slipped her mind that it was Castlewood game day. She didn’t want to mess with Ty’s head on one of the biggest games of the season. But she had started this, so she had to finish it. She hopes it works out and Ty can focus. Just on the walk this morning she could tell how it messed with him and she loved it. She loved that it was almost like a confirmation he liked her back. She loved him looking at her like that. She loved the way her heart started beating faster when he was stumbling over his words when she asked if it looked okay. She loved him. Whether it was too early or one sided, she knew that much. She was in love with him. 

It was later that evening and Annie was taking pictures of the crowd and the rival teams in the dugout for the paper. Kyle had run over when he got to the game and put a number 17 tattoo on her cheek. Annie at first thought it was too much, but why not end the day with a bang? She heard all the tongue wagging during school and rolled her eyes at every comment. Give them something more to talk about. 

Just before the game started, she was under the bleachers taking pictures when she noticed someone walking up to her out of her peripheral. It was Maddie Townsend. 

“You know you got a lot of people tongue wagging about the jersey you’re wearing.” Maddie said, coming to stand next to Annie. 

This was something Annie was not prepared for. 

“Oh, uh, yeah. Just something I found in my stuff and decided to wear it for game day.” Annie said, trying to see if the same excuse would work on Maddie. 

“And the 17 number on the cheek?” 

“Oh, uh, you know supporting a friend.” Annie smiled weakly. 

Maddie laughed. “Were you tired of him not admitting his feelings?” 

Annie looked at her, surprised. 

“Trust me, I’ve noticed.” Maddie said. “He’s got it bad for you, sweetheart. He thought you were forever going to be mad at him for what happened last year, and he didn’t want to make things worse.”

“He said that to you?” Annie put the camera down, letting it dangle around her neck. 

“Not to me, but to Gabe. For talking about some pretty private stuff, boys do not know how to whisper.” Maddie tucked a piece of hair behind Annie’s ear. “I am proud of you. You have grown into such an amazing woman. No matter what happens, I will always love you.” 

“Thanks Aunt Maddie.” Annie gave her a quick hug before going to pick up her camera. 

“As I love being your aunt Maddie, you might want to start calling me Maddie. Because when you two get together it might be weird to some who don’t know us and you’re calling me aunt.” 

Annie choked on air as she watched Maddie return to the stands. She hadn’t thought of that. 

The game had been close. Everyone is on the edge of their seats. The bulldogs were ahead by one. Castlewood had a player on third and second base. If he didn’t strike them out, they had the chance to tie up the game or even win. 

Ty took a deep breath. The entire stadium was quiet. He looked forward, trying to focus. He felt the nerves run through his body. This was all on him. He closed his eyes for a moment. 

“You got this, Ty!” 

His head snapped to his right, knowing where the voice came from, the words faintly still echoing through the stadium. His eyes caught her. Annie. They locked for a moment before she gave him a big smile. The one that lit up her entire face. He looked at her for another moment. He let himself revel in that smile. He felt the way his heart did a little flutter. He gave her a small smile back before turning back to the game. 

He moved the ball in his hands. He took one more breath before throwing the ball. 

“Strike!”

Before he knew it, his teammates were yelling and coming on the field. They were screaming and jumping, everything you do when you end up winning one of the biggest games. They continued this for a few moments before families started joining the field and prying their sons away. He wanted to go find Annie, but his parents would kill him if he didn’t go straight to them first. He spotted them near the edge of the field and jogged over. 

Maddie immediately enveloped him in a hug. “You did great sweetie!” 

“Yes, you did, son.” Bill clapped him on the back and pulled him into a quick hug. 

Katie clung onto his leg, “You were the bestest!” 

“Yeah man, that was one of the most intense games ever and I don’t even like baseball.” Kyle commented. 

“Thank you, guys. I couldn’t have done it without the team.” Ty said, smiling at them. He then took that moment to scan the field and outside the bleachers. 

“Last I saw her; she was packing up her things and heading out. You best go catch her.” Maddie said. 

“Wha- “Ty began, before Maddie started pushing him. “If you want to catch her tonight, this is your chance. I can see you wanted to find her. Now go before she is too far. Oh, and Ty? If you break her heart, we both have Dana Sue to deal with and I don’t think we want that.” 

“No ma’am.” Ty smiled before running off the field. He heard Kyle mutter ‘Finally.’ And his dad questioned what just transpired. Leave it to Bill not knowing what’s going on. 

Ty jogged outside the stadium looking all over. He looked between the people that were leaving and the cars that were still there. He started to get worried that she had left the moment the game was over, and she’d be close to home now. He wouldn’t be able to catch up. He sighed in defeat and turned to start walking back towards his family. He knew he could still have a conversation with Annie tomorrow, but the adrenaline made him want to have it tonight. 

He was almost back to the field, spotting his parents in the same spot when he heard someone say, “Looking for someone?” 

He whipped around and locked eyes with the beautiful big brown ones he was looking for. His face immediately lit up. He scanned her, now noticing the 17 on her cheek. His hand flew up to cup it, his thumb running over the number. He felt her lean into his touch and watched as her eyes closed for a moment. He saw a small smile play upon her lips as she sighed. A content sigh. 

His eyes flicked from the jersey to her face before asking the question he had wondered for most of the day, “So, is this my jersey?”

Her eyes popped opened and she lifted her head from his palm, leading him to run the hand down her arm and intertwining their fingers. 

“Yeah,” her cheeks flush red, “it was Kyle’s idea to be honest. I was thinking something simpler to tell you.” 

“Tell me what?” Ty smiled. 

Annie’s smile dropped from her face and looked serious. More serious than Ty had ever seen before. He started to worry, that everything he thought was wrong. He wondered if his worry showed on his face because Annie cupped his face, made sure he was looking right at her, and said, “I like you, Tyler Townsend.” 

Ty let out a sigh of relief and leaned his forehead against hers. 

“That’s good to hear because I like you too Annabelle Sullivan.” 

The pair stood there for a moment, Ty’s hand still holding hers, as he watched her give him the smile that he loved. He wanted to kiss her right then and there, and while part of him didn’t care about the other tongue wagging Serenity citizens, he didn’t want to screw this up by putting Annie in the center of the gossip. 

As if Annie had read his mind, she spoke just then, “If you think I care about the gossip this city is gonna make if you kiss me right now then you’re wrong. I wouldn’t have worn this outfit if I didn’t know what I was getting myself into in this town. So, kiss me, please, before my confidence starts fading.” 

Ty did not need to be told twice. He felt her melt into him, and he smiled into the kiss, causing a small laugh from Annie as she pulled away. It was quick, just as quick as their first kiss was, but so much better. 

Ty was about to pull her back in when he heard someone yell his name. The pair backed away from each other, noticing the looks the other parents and students were giving them, when they spotted Maddie looking at them. 

“You have until 10 o’clock. Annie is home no later than 9:30 and you are home no later than 10. Do you understand?” 

“Yes ma’am.” Ty responded. 

He looked at Annie in that moment who kissed his cheek before pulling him away from the stadium, laughing as she squeezed his hand. 

God, he loved that smile and that laugh.


End file.
